Two Wrongs Make It Right/Four
four “But if you close your eyes, Does it almost feel like Nothing changed at all?” --Pompeii, Bastille --lavender I watch Jet's face transform from worry to pure shock. Holly is still glaring at him defiantly and Jet just stares back at her, dumbfounded. "You want to stay with them?" He repeats. "Yeah!" Holly lashes her tail, "I hate our father." Jet watches her quietly and Holly shrinks back a little, afraid of Jet's anger. I don't know if Jet's ever gotten physical with his younger siblings, but I know he can be harsh with his words if he wanted. Then he slowly shakes his head. "We're not going to stay with our father." What? Even I'm confused but Jet wordlessly turns and starts to walk away. Carson is already gesturing frantically at us. We're not in the clear with the intruders yet. Jet picks up Holly by the scruff even though she squeals indignantly. We take off at a run and there's a shout behind us but no one follows (they probably still think there are a lot of us). We cross the border and it's there that we slow to a walk. Jet puts Holly back down and Ivy looks ready to just ditch us and walk the other way. Carson pauses, his eyes on Peony. She's watching him too and they seem to be having a silent conversation. "Why don't you come with us?" I finally say. Jet jerks his head up, eyes glaring but I ignore him. Carson watches me curiously. "Come with you?" He gives a little laugh, "What do you need from us? We're criminals and castaways." "I get the feeling there's a reason for that." I didn't know they were criminals but that isn't the matter right now. "You helped us so I feel the need to return the favor." "I don't," Jet growls. Ivy narrows her eyes. "What if this is a trap, Carson? She could be just luring us in and then turning us in." I can tell that Ivy just flat out doesn't want to trust us. (Honestly, she and Jet should be friends; they're so alike.) Peony puts in her thoughts. "They're rogues, just like us. Why would they side with IceClan when they owe us a favor?" What does being a rogue have to do with trusting IceClan? I've never given serving IceClan a thought since all I wanted to do was help cats and since IceClan had let us rogues live on their territory, it was only logical to give back. Was Peony saying that there was something between IceClan and the rogues? "Look at that expression on her face," Ivy scoffs, "She worships IceClan." "I'm right here," I snap. "Wow, what a pleasant surprise," Ivy drawls, her green eyes filled with poison. "Ivy, we're going with them," Carson interrupts our glaring contest. The brown tom seems to be the spokesperson and leader of the three. "What favor could we possibly need from them?" Ivy asks incredulously, "Carson, are you out of your mind? We don't need them for anything; we need to protect ourselves." Carson looks at her for a long time. "Then stay here." He says firmly, "We're better off as a group. Five is better than three." Ivy's expression turns stunned. She turns away, stony-faced and Peony cries out a little. For a moment I think she's going to stomp off, but when she turns back around, Ivy's face is composed and almost passive. "Fine," she mutters, "I'm going too." And then we're off, heading back towards Jet's den, Holly in tow. The kit had watched the exchange quietly, not saying anything. We're almost to Jet's den when the little orange kit--I'm not sure I remember or even knew his name--bursts out of the undergrowth. "Jet!" He sobs, "Dad--" Jet takes off before his brother even finishes. It's Holly who ends up asking. "Jacky, what's wrong?" "S-Silvia!" He is crying hysterically. "Silvia didn't want to go back in the den and Dad got angry. She wants to run away and we were planning it before Dad started cornering Silvia! I ran out as fast as I could to find you guys." I sprint after Jet. I have no doubt he can beat his father in a fight but I'm worried about his morals and decisions. If Silvia is in danger, no doubt Jet will murder his father to save her. That's something I can't allow him to do. Sure enough, when I get back, Jet has his father pinned to the ground and he's snarling something in his face. Silvia is crouched to the side and Jacky rushes over there with Holly. "Don't you dare harm them," Jet spits out, his eyes angry and almost malevolent. "I'd kill you but that wouldn't give me any benefits other than you being gone. So I'm going to let you go but if you ever return to this den or if I ever see you again, I won't hesitate to kill you this time, you hear?" He steps off his father and in moments his father is gone. "Fleeing like a coward," Jet snorts. "Typical." "Your father looks like Jacky," I realize. There's some sort of disgust in Jet's eyes when I say this and Holly growls slightly. Jet and Holly are both jet black, making them very alike. I can see in the way that Holly glares at Jacky that there's something about her brother's appearance and similarity to their father that she despises. "He was the only one of us that does," Jet explains, "My father loved Jacky the most for the that reason. Holly and I look like our mother, hense why you can tell that Holly hates Jacky. Our father never treated her fairly because she looked like our late mother." "And Silvia?" Jet shrugs, "She has a silver pelt. My father ignored her most of the time." He goes over to his siblings, who had been staring at us with wide eyes. Jet crouches in front of them. "I'm going to be here from now on for you, okay? If I'm not here, then my friends will take care of you." "We're not your friends," Ivy says bluntly. Carson shoots her a look and Ivy adds, "but we'll totally take care of your siblings." "Jet," I nudge the black tom to indicate that I want to talk to him in private. "We still have our jobs. We can't protect your siblings like this." The black tom frowns. "That and we need to find a proper leader for IceClan. We need one that will treat rogues fairly." He glances at Carson and the others. "They're a perfect example that IceClan isn't doing their best to help the rogues." "I think," I say slowly, "that this is a case to ask Carson for help." --jet Carson readily agrees to think of something. He doesn't have to think long though before he gets up and pads over to us. "This might not be the most logical thing to do but I think it's our best course of action. We should head as a group towards the stronghold until we get the closest Peony, Ivy, and I can get without getting caught. We'll take care of your siblings while you and Lavender head inside and try to recruit a leader by spying on a meeting where cats are trying to train to become the next leader of IceClan." "We have those?" Lavender wrinkles her nose, "I can't really imagine being in the same room with multiple obnoxious leaders." "To-be leaders," Carson corrects. "Whatever, same thing," Lavender flicks her tail. I have to agree with the calico she-cat though. "You're right," I tell Carson, "the plan is idiotic but we might as well carry on with it. Your last plan worked." "My plans always work," Carson rolls his eyes. Ivy looks ready to argue but Peony nudges the light brown she-cat away. It's then I notice how small Peony really is. She's smaller than Ivy--though Ivy isn't exactly a minature figure--and even smaller than Lavender, who is already tiny compared to me. Carson doesn't seem to care though. I can tell he's madly in love with the cream colored she-cat, and I can tell that she's beautiful. I automatically glance at Lavender, as if the calico could read my thoughts. Then I feel silly for caring about whether or not she knew I thought Peony is beautiful. Lavender is pondering over the plan before she nods too. "Let's do it." We set out almost immediately. Carson says that the meetings happen once a week and if we travel fast enough, we can make it in time for the meeting this week. "I still can't believe we have a meeting for to-be leaders," Lavender shakes her head ruefully, "But then of course, it explains why all the leaders are practically the same. Though we haven't had a change of leaders in awhile because he never goes out to battle so he's never in danger." "You think we can find an appropriate leader in a meeting designed to create biased leaders?" I ask Lavender, feeling very doubtful. "We have to," Lavender shrugs, "we better hope someone in there will realize that the whole system of choosing leaders for IceClan is ridiculous and that we need a better leader." "But you don't think we'll find one." I can see it in her hesitant expression. "Do you?" Lavender points out. I shake my head. "Well, no, but it'd make me feel better if you thought we'd actually find someone." Lavender gives me a funny look. "When did my opinion ever count to you?" I'm startled by what she says. I reflect back to when we met a few days ago. She's right though; I've never cared about what Lavender said or did because I had been so bent on isolating myself and protecting my family (my siblings that is, not my father). It's only been a few days since I first met Lavender but I already trust her more than I've trusted anyone. "Starting now I guess," I admit, "things change." "In two days?" Lavender twitches her whiskers, "But I'm glad. We can't really be partners if we're going to disagree and hate each other." "We barely know each other," I point out, but I feel more comforted by the fact that Lavender and I seem to have each other's backs. She's caring enough that she would do anything to help me, despite the impression I must have made on her. "We can change that easily," Lavender says with a fleeting smile. I find myself smiling slightly before erasing it quickly with a scowl. When did Lavender affect me in this way? I lower my gaze. "How do you know you won't hate me after you get to know me?" "I just do," Lavender replies, her eyes unfathomable. Before I can reply, Ivy gives me a shove to get my attention. "Sorry to interrupt but this is as far as we can go. You and Lavender need to go in and pretend like you're getting your assignment today. Carson pulled some strings for your job to get you in the right position." I blink. It's already dawn again and we haven't gotten a wink of sleep. "When--?" "I have my ways," Carson winks at us, coming up from the opposite direction. I hadn't even realized he wasn't with us because I had been talking with Lavender this entire time. "Honestly I just talked to one of the cats who has sympathy for our goals--mine, Peony, and Ivy's--and he has always been helping us." We head in and Lavender checks in with the cat in the front. "You're on guard duty today," the cat informs us. "West flank." I have no idea where the leader's meeting is supposed to be and Lavender has no clue as well. "Perhaps we can investigate at break," she murmurs to me, "the first break for guard's duty is at sunhigh. That's not too far away." "I'm exhausted," I groan, "we haven't slept at all." "Just get through this day," Lavender urges. Her words give me energy. Somehow I make it until break, where Lavender gets me some prey. I really want to nap but Lavender drags me off to find the leader's meeting. We wander around for a long time until Lavender halts suddenly, causing me to bump into her. I curse as we both stumble and fall but Lavender hisses for me to be quiet. "Listen," she commands. I cock my head and follow her instructions. At first I hear nothing, but then I notice a faint murmur in the background. Lavender creeps forward silently and I follow her lead, snaking around a bramble wall until we near where two cats are standing guard. The leader's meeting, Lavender mouths to me. I nod to show that I understand and we crouch there, listening. "We nee to make our move now. Those intruders have held out for too long. What if we lose the support of the rogues living in our territory and they side with those mange-pelts?" "Then we'll keep them carefully controlled. We've been feeding on their needs for prey and that's kept them coming, has it not?" I curl my lip in disgust at hearing this. But that's not the worst of it all. "Don't worry about our allies. If they try to rebel, we'll just crush them. Like Stonepelt said, we control their prey supply. It's the reason so many of them are volunteering to help IceClan win this war." "What do we do with the rogues after we win the war?" "We cast them aside of course. We have no need for them after that." "I can't believe it," I hiss to Lavender, "they're just using us! We can't choose one of these leaders to be IceClan's 'just' leader. There is not just leader in this system because they're all trained to think the same thoughts." I dig my claws into the dirt in frustration. She nods in agreement and we both turn to go. I immediately bump into another tom, who is watching us with curious, sharp green eyes. "Hello," he gives us a smile that doesn't reach his eyes, "you're spying on the leader's meeting, aren't you?" "No," I blurt out, "we were lost and needed directions." The gray tom gives a laugh. "No need for a cover up; I'm not going to turn you in. In fact, I'm glad I bumped into the two of you. You're rogues right? Rogues who want more say in IceClan's matters, especially since you serve and work for us?" "Yes," Lavender says affirmatively, "That's exactly what we want." "Then you're in luck," the tom flicks in his tail. "I didn't join the meeting because I'm stepping out of the leader system. I disagree with all of them. Rogues shouldn't be treated in such a way." Lavender doesn't say anything and neither do I. We wait for him to continue. "Allow me to introduce myself," the tom dips his head, "My name is Grayshadow." "Jet," I grunt, and Lavender says her own name. "If what you say is true, then we have a proposal for you," Lavender narrows her eyes, "We, the rogues, want to replace IceClan's leader and leader system. We need a just leader to take the place and make things right." "I agree to that," Grayshadow says easily. "Meet us outside of the stronghold later at midnight. We still have guard duty to do." "I can get you out of duty for now," Grayshadow dismisses, "and you have my permission to stop showing up to your jobs. You must be dedicated to this mission because it's the only way we can get this done." "It's illegal to leave your job before a certain amount of moons," I splutter. "And I'm going to be your leader," Grayshadow says evenly, "who will care that you break the rules? I certainly won't because I'm giving you the option to do it." Lavender nudges me and whispers in my ear. "We might as well do as he says." "I'll see you later then," Grayshadow sees that we've come to an agreement and he turns and disappears. Lavender shrugs and the two of us head towards the front where indeed, we're dismissed from guard duty for the rest of the day. "What do you think of Grayshadow?" Lavender murmurs. "He seems real enough," I admit, "a bit of the unemotional side but that's fine. We need a serious leader who can set things right." "Two wrongs make it right," Lavender smiles, "it's always been a policy I liked." For some reason, I think about the broken pasts Lavender and I come from. Two wrongs make it right. I shake off the thought. Lavender and I aren't going to be friends; we're just accomplices for this common goal. But no matter how much I tell myself that, I can't help but think that I wish Lavender and I won't part ways after we finish this mission. Category:Two Wrongs Make It Right